


Angus McDonald and the Cookie Case

by cassowarykisses



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Baking, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Team as Family, pre-Eleventh Hour
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-10-15 10:19:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10554690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cassowarykisses/pseuds/cassowarykisses
Summary: Taako keeps finding gifts left for him, and hires Angus to discover who the culprit is.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for a prompt on tumblr by reks-the-necromancer-king.

“Hey, Ango?” Taako said, leaning against the doorway of Angus’s office.

“Yes, sir?” Angus said. He spun his swivel chair away from his desk. “Hold on, just let me get my lanyard.” He leaned across the desk and grabbed his wand, then slipped it around his neck.

“Did you make that thing yourself?” Taako asked, pointing at it.

Angus looked down at it. “Oh yes, sir! They had workshops at Camp Goodfriend.”

“Very business casual,” Taako commented. “You know, I woulda thought Art Goodfriend would be all into the neon.” He waved a hand in the air vaguely.

“You know, he’s a good guy if you get to know him,” Angus said.

Taako shook his head. “Fucking Art Goodfriend.” he said, like the very concept of the man offended him.

“I know you have opinions about him,” Angus said. “You don’t even have to be a detective at all to know that.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Taako said. “My heart’s billowing on my sleeve to you.”

“It actually is, Taako,” Angus said. “You don’t usually come here at this time of day, and you’re only making eye contact half the time. Clearly something’s bothering you.”

“Alright,” Taako began, “I’ll come clean.” He pulled a clear bag out from one of the pockets of his skirt and brandished it. “Do you see these?”

Angus peered over his glasses. “Yes sir, they look like cookies. Chocolate chip and walnut, to be precise!”

“They’re actually chopped pecans,” Taako said.

 “Oh,” Angus said. “Well, my point still stands. They don’t look very ominous.”

“That’s because you haven’t seen this note that was with them,” Taako said, rummaging through his pockets again.

Angus’s eyes lit up. “Is it in code?”

“What?” Taako said, “Don’t get your hopes up, my dude. Look –“ he pulled out the note. “Read this.”

Angus reached out and took the note. “Dear Taako,” he read out loud. “I hope you enjoy these cookies. I tried my best, but the communal kitchens are not great. Someone should probably stock them with paper towels, at least. Anyways, hope they’re tasty! Signed, your friend.”

“Sir, I think it’s Magnus,” Angus said.

“Yeah, no shit, Caleb Cleveland,” Taako said. “Nobody else around signs notes ‘your friend’. That’s on-brand for Magnus.”

“It really is,” Angus said. “Last time Merle gave me a memo, he included a Pan Tract with it, so I’m positive it’s not him.” He looked at Taako. “So what do you want me to detect?”

“Listen,” Taako said. “Listen. I’ve eaten Magnus’s cooking. It’s not inedible, but I wouldn’t trust him near measuring cups if my life literally depended on it, and that’s pretty much all baking is.”

“Uh-huh,” Angus said.

“But these cookies are actually good!” Taako exclaimed. “He had to have gotten help. Your job is to find out who.”

***

Angus trotted down the hallway towards the kitchen. It wasn’t the most exciting assignment, compared to some of the official research he was doing for the Bureau, but he was looking forward to it. Things like this were what made the Moonbase feel like a home and the Bureau like a family. Families did things like bake secret cookies and give gifts, and Angus wanted to be a part of it forever.

He stepped into the kitchen. He didn’t call out, since there were clearly signs that someone had been here recently, like the smell of freshly baked cookies covering up the smell of unwashed pots in the sink.

_The Director should really crack down on this_ , Angus thought, and then paused. He wasn’t alone.

“Hey Angus,” Carey said, ducking out of the pantry. “Want me to put on some mac and cheese for you?”

“No thank you,” Angus, “I’m investigating a cookie mystery for Mr. Taako.”

“Oh really?” Carey, leaning down and breathing out a flicker of flame to light the stove.

“You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?” Angus asked.

Carey choked, and the fire on the range spluttered. “Me! No!”

“Really?” Angus asked. He leaned over to look her in the eye.

“Okay, yeah, you got me,” Carey said, sighing out one last breath of flame before she sat back on her haunches. “I’m not a very good liar, am I?”

“Not really, Ms. Carey,” Angus said.

Carey laughed. “You’re a polite boy, aren’t you, Angus?”

“That’s me,” Angus said. She reached over and patted his head, and Angus beamed.

“Since the game’s over,” Angus suggested, “Maybe you could tell Mr. Magnus to come out of the pantry?”

There was a groan from the pantry. “Do you have to ruin everything, Ango?”

Carey sighed. “Come out, Magnus.”

“You’re the world’s worst wingman,” Magnus said, sidestepping out of the pantry and almost knocking over a box of instant oatmeal. “I mean, wingwoman. Hold on – Carey, do you have wings, or is that just a dragon thing?”

“It’s just a dragon thing,” Carey said.

“Were you the one that helped Mr. Magnus to make the cookies?” Angus asked.

“Yup,” Carey said. “He’s giving me a couple hours of woodworking lessons in exchange. And,” she added, “This was a perfect opportunity to practice your rogue skills, too, Magnus, so you owe me double for this one.”

“Okay, I object,” Magnus said. “This was totally impromptu. Angus, you saw that right? You caused it, I hope you saw it.”

“Rogue stuff is always impromptu!” Carey said. “That’s what being a rogue is about. Rogue mind, rogue spirit, rogue body.”

“Ugh, you sound like Merle,” Magnus said.                                                                      

Angus cleared his throat. “So! To, uh, get back to the topic of the cookies?”

“Oh yes,” Magnus said. “They’re . . . for Taako.”

“Sir, I made that deduction before I even set foot in this room,” Angus said.

Magnus scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. “It was supposed to be a conversation starter, y’know? He likes cooking, so I figured if I got him to ask me for a recipe that would get things going, but stew is about where my culinary visions begin and end.”

“It is delicious,” Carey said. “You should bring it to the company potluck.” She added, “It’s Scales’s recipe. I had to cut corners a little bit, since Avi ordered all our groceries in bulk, but it turned out pretty okay.”

“I made it all by myself!” Magnus said, and paused. “Well, Carey wrote down the recipe and started the pilot light, but I did the rest of it myself.”

Angus turned to Magnus. “You know what?” Angus said. “If you did the baking, then you’re the one Taako should go to. You can send him to Carey for the recipe, if that’s what you want.”

Magnus grinned. “You’re my favorite detective, Ango.”

Angus smiled back. “You’re not my favorite baker, but you can be my second favorite,” he said. “My first favorite is Mr. Taako.”

“That’s fair!” Magnus said, and stuck out a hand for Angus to shake. “Now, do you want some of the newest batch? They should still be warm.”

***

Later that night, Taako sat in his room and took a bite of cookie. He chewed it slowly, considered, and took out a recipe card.

_Molasses_ , he wrote, _DEFINITELY substituted margarine for butter (major sin), chopped pecans, ???. Talk to Magnus tomorrow._


End file.
